Bruning Makes Final Primary Push

With the primary elections drawing near, political candidates are making a final push to get their ideas out to the public.Republican gubernatorial candidate Jon Bruning sat down with the News-Press to discuss the end of the primary campaign trail.

With the primary elections drawing near, political candidates are making a final push to get their ideas out to the public.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jon Bruning sat down with the News-Press to discuss the end of the primary campaign trail.

“There’s (only a short amount of time) left, so I’m not going to beat around the bush,” said Bruning, shrugging off a look from his lunch mates. “Everything’s going great. The difference between myself and the other candidates is becoming very clear.”

Bruning criticized challenger Pete Ricketts.

“He’s a billionaire, he can afford to outspend me,” said Bruning when asked about why he thought Ricketts was his toughest competitor. “But he has no experience. I have experience. I’ve been attorney general for 12 years. He talks about it, I’ve done it. He talks about Obamacare, I’ve lead the lawsuit against it.”

Bruning and Ricketts made statewide news after Bruning accused Ricketts of financing a negative ad blitz against him.

The ads drew the attention of Gov. Dave Heineman, who said the makers of the ads should reveal themselves.

Ricketts denied being behind the ads but did not condemn them.

Bruning also said that Ricketts was using his money in other ways.

“I’m endorsed by the Nebraska State Education Association, the Omaha Police Officer’s Association and 59 county sherriffs. All of my endorsements are Nebraska based, unlike Sarah Palin and the people Pete Ricketts bought. He’s got Ted Cruze and Paul Walker, these people who want to run for president and want his family’s money.”

Bruning said that property taxes is the biggest issue facing Nebraskans today.

“Evaluations have gone up, so you have some farmers who can’t break even just holding onto land,” said Bruning. “I plan to reduce ag valuation from 75 percent down to 65 percent.”

When asked about how Nebraska could deal with methamphetamine problems, Bruning said that he was proud of his work to cut back on the amount of meth labs in the state.

“I helped pass a bill that put pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient to meth, behind the counter,” said Bruning. “That dramatically cut the amount of meth labs in Nebraska. Also, some people talk about non-violent offenders, I think that the people in prison deserve to be there. A lot of these people are multiple offenders and finally get caught on a meth charge.”

And the flow of marijuana from Colorado?

“That’s a resource issue,” said Bruning. “We just need to put more resources there.”

Page 2 of 2 - Bruning said that his experience and ability to work with other members in government helped to set him apart from the rest of the candidates

“As attorney general, I’ve proven that I can work with Democrats. People can look at that and see,” said Bruning. “That’s unique among the six of us.”